Dolphins’ Koa Misi: Our defense can be greatPosted by Michael David Smith

We’ll have to wait a few months to find out if the 2013 Dolphins are really a good team. But it’s clear that they think they’re a really good team. Misi definitely needs to step up or the Dolphins will draft his replacement ... if they haven't all ready.

The latest Dolphin to talk up the team is linebacker Koa Misi, who said he believes the defense will be not just good but great this season.

“We can be great,” Misi told the Miami Herald. “We’ve got a lot of new guys. They’re trying to learn the defense right now. The guys that they brought in to play in this defense and bring it to where we need to be, I think they did a good job in that.”

Among the other boasts we’ve heard from the Dolphins this offseason have been claims that Ryan Tannehill will be one of the great quarterbacks, that the arrival of Mike Wallace gives them the best receivers in the division and that they’re planning to “make some noise.”

and I agree with Misi. As much as everyone is talking about our offense, I think it's our defense that will be the elite unit.

I had said it all off season, for me the most important team stats are points. Points scored by the offense vs points allowed by defense.

2012 we ranked 7th in the NFL on defense giving up only 19.8 points per game.. We were bottom of the pack on offense only scoring 18.

We should be an elite unit IMO. We basically swapped or added talent, cant say any real big play makers on defense are gone.

Offense I have my fingers crossed, so long as RT can stay upright, and Miller has a hole to run through we should be a lot better... But that is something I will need to see in Sept before I start booking my SB reservations lol...

Hate to break it to ya, but he ranked as the 10th best 4-3 OLB in the NFL last season according to PFF. He ranked 15th in pass coverage and 9th in run stopping.

You're not breaking anything to me Rich. A "great" defense makes plays when the game is on the line, not giving up chunks of yards and letting the other team score. Misi himself is not great. Show me him as a an all pro, all defense/LB, or pro bowler.

Hate to break it to ya, but he ranked as the 10th best 4-3 OLB in the NFL last season according to PFF. He ranked 15th in pass coverage and 9th in run stopping.

You're not breaking anything to me Rich. A "great" defense makes plays when the game is on the line, not giving up chunks of yards and letting the other team score. Misi himself is not great. Show me him as a an all pro, all defense/LB, or pro bowler.

So the counterargument is that something as subjctive as being in the Pro Bowl defines a player as great?

He was a converted 4-3 DE in college, so, he's had to learn the linebacker position. I don't think we'll ever seen him get an interception, but he did force 2 fumbles last year. He's stout against the run, but I think the Dolphins expected more sacks from him. Since we don't hear his name called out much, I think it is easy for us to think that he doesn't make an impact. According to PFF he is very efficient.

There is a discrepancy in the stats thought. PFF has Misi with 6 sacks last year, but he only had 3.5.

stats sometimes lie. stats say we always have great players , the stat of games won says we dont.

I dont see any lying stats... I see a tough defense that did not give up a lot of points, and a dull offense that could not score.

Our defense was tough because of the effort of guys like Misi.

While I somewhat agree I just remember in too many crunch times just saying we need a stop and it did not happen. But hey , its all in the past now and I have no doubt that we are now elite on all 3 levels.